Graduation Ought Not Be an End

Music: Aria Variata, BVW989, Variation #1.
by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Performed by Brendan Kinsella at the Free Music Archive
under a Copyright-Only Dedication license.

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Graduation
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Copyright by
Nicholas Gordon

Graduation ought not be an end,
Replacing what within we might achieve.
After all, the good that we intend
Does much to serve the good that we receive.
Underneath the mask of a degree
A person must perform with just the skill,
The knowledge and the art that he or she
Internalized through pluck, hard work, and will.
On what we are will rest what we become,
Nor do we have much else to draw upon.

Copyright by Nicholas Gordon. Free for personal or non-commercial use.

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